7. Pipe Tobacco (1)
7. Pipe Tobacco (1)
Mederun, a city in the Padis Kingdom which occupies over half of the Ardenia Continent, is nicknamed a fortress city, surrounded by sturdy walls that easily block monster attacks.
Furthermore, it doesn't just have one wall.
If someone were to ask which is the safest city in the Padis Kingdom, people would name Mederun without a second's hesitation, which is why it's called the fortress and the last city of the Padis Kingdom.
Because it's safe, a vast amount of trade flows in from neighboring countries and cities, and as a result, there are many people in Mederun.
Since so many people come and go, Mederun has more Adventurers than anywhere else, and the Adventurer Guild is just as active.
The guild building, larger and more impressive than any other city's, was bustling with Adventurers looking to accept quests, people looking to commission quests, and guild staff organizing those quests.
The guild went quiet the moment two people entered the building.
"What the!? It's Amber!?"
The people who frequented the Adventurer Guild had thought Amber was dead.
That was because Amber, who visited the Adventurer Guild every single day without fail, hadn't been heard from for five days.
If it had been any other ordinary Adventurer, no one would have cared, but Amber was a B-rank Adventurer who was also quite pretty, so she received a lot of attention in the Adventurer Guild.
Therefore, news of Amber's survival was bound to grab the attention of everyone in the Adventurer Guild.
"H, hi everyone?"
Amber greeted the people she knew in the Adventurer Guild as naturally as possible.
"Huh? Amber, who is this person?"
The female Adventurer who was closest to Amber was so curious about the person next to her that she took a peek to see who it was.
'She's covering her face?'
She was dressed similarly to a nun, but everything was black, and her face was covered by a veil.
However, even though her face was covered, she could tell that the person had a very beautiful aura.
'Amber came to the guild with someone like this?'
It was even more concerning because Amber was an Adventurer who always emphasized solo play.
"Ah...! W, well, she's someone I formed an Adventurer party with this time."
"Amber formed a paaaaaarty!?"
"Y, yeah. It's definitely true that there are too many dangerous things to do quests alone."
"Right. No matter how good your scouting is, Amber, it's dangerous alone. Is the person next to you a Mage, then?"
"Ah, no, she's a healer."
"Then, by any chance... I could join as a vanguard... how about it?"
Reina, a female Adventurer who had wanted to be in a party with Amber for a long time, subtly hinted that she wanted to join the party now that Amber had started forming one.
However.
"Ah, no! We're enough as we are right now, Reina! We don't need Reina! Ah, no, that's not what I meant...!"
"Ah.... O, okay..."
Reina became dejected the moment she heard "We don't need Reina!"
"I, I'm really sorry!"
She felt sorry for Reina, but Amber quickly tried to take Lea to a place with less attention from people.
"Hey! Amber! You should introduce this beautiful lady to all of us."
A tall Adventurer said, grabbing Amber's wrist.
The man lowered his head to look at Lea behind Amber.
Her face was covered with a black veil, but it was obvious. The face hidden behind that veil was beautiful.
Actually, it would be fine even if her face wasn't that great.
The man smiled as he scanned Lea's body from bottom to top.
'I can just do it with her face covered. Hehe.'
"Look, Ryan, I'm sorry, but now isn't the time."
"What do you mean it's not the time? You even formed a party. Why don't you join our party while you're at it?"
"I'm really sorry...!"
"Hey, hey."
Amber tried to move away, but Ryan wouldn't let go.
Amber looked urgently at Lea beside her. She felt like she was going to go crazy thinking that if Lea got even slightly offended, this entire city might disappear.
The problem was that the Adventurer in front of her, Ryan, was an A-Rank Adventurer and a very famous person in this guild, so his strength was considerable, and she couldn't just shake him off and leave.
Amber squeezed her eyes shut and then glared at Ryan. She put all her wishes into it, begging him to just let her go for now.
"!?"
Ryan got goosebumps all over his body as he made eye contact with Amber.
His whole body froze, and he started breaking out in a cold sweat, just like when he first encountered an S-rank monster.
When Ryan suddenly released his hand from her wrist, Amber thought her wish had been granted, so she took Lea's hand and went to a place where people couldn't easily see them.
==
Mederun, a city in the Padix Kingdom which possesses the greatest power on the Ardenia Continent, was fun just to walk around and look at the surroundings.
And I was surprised that Adventurers were treated better than I thought in this world. Does that mean there are that many monsters?
Since Amber, a B-rank Adventurer, vouched for my identity, they made me a pass without any special inspection.
The first human city I entered after coming to this world had achieved a much higher civilization than I expected.
I thought, as expected, humans are the most dangerous of all living things.
I thought I needed to prepare surely and thoroughly.
The Adventurer Guild was bigger, more active, and cooler than I thought.
Countless people were equipped with unique gear and weapons.
Someone who looked like a Mage at a glance, a tanker wearing heavy plate armor, an archer wearing leather armor like Amber, and an Adventurer holding a dagger.
My heart pounded just looking at the passing Adventurers. It was just like a world inside a game.
As soon as I sat in the seat Amber guided me to, I thought of the Adventurer named Reina I saw earlier.
Despite being a woman, her tall height and sturdy muscles showed just how strong the Adventurer named Reina was.
On top of that, she seemed close with Amber.
"The Adventurer named Reina. I like her."
"...!"
Amber flinched greatly at my words.
"Th... that is..."
"Don't worry. I just said it as it is."
Amber seemed to have something she wanted to say, but she didn't say anything.
Today, I came to the city where humans live with Amber.
There are several reasons, but there are two main ones.
The first is to check what level of civilization humans have built in this world, and the second is to find a way to procure food.
Even if I build a breeding farm or a food farm, it usually takes at least half a year to a maximum of one year, so I need to have a way to procure food before then.
To find that method, I decided to come to this city where Amber lived and was active.
And I also wanted to see it.
A city in a fantasy world, to be able to see with my own two eyes what I only saw in novels or games. Of course, it's dangerous, but I wanted to come even while taking that risk.
First, for the initial food supply, I bought all the meat I could from the butcher shop with the money Amber had saved up and sent it to the Colony through the Creatures.
Of course, that amount of meat won't be enough, but it will be enough to stop cannibalism for a while.
Once the atmosphere settled down a bit, Amber and I went together to the place with the giant board that had quests. It was to find out what kind of quests were in the Adventurer Guild and how they were operated.
Numerous parchments were attached, and it was roughly divided into sections by rank.
I scanned the parchments and sighed.
It's not Korean.
I clearly thought that since I could communicate with Amber, the letters would naturally be Korean too.
'Wait, am I even speaking Korean with Amber in the first place?'
Before my head got complicated, I just thought about it comfortably.
It must be communication through the Queen's ability. Since I can talk to Creatures in the first place, why wouldn't I be able to talk to humans?
==
After finishing the tour of the Adventurer Guild, I rented a carriage and filled it with a large amount of meat that Amber bought with the money she had saved up until now.
This amount is far from enough to satisfy my children, but I thought I could suppress the cannibalism of eating each other to some extent, so I got on the carriage with a happy heart.
The first exploration of a city where humans live in this other world was very satisfying.
Thanks to Amber, I didn't get lost and solved the food problem I wanted to solve, at least a little bit.
I wanted to buy live animals, but I gave up because it's hard to get the knowledge or necessary things for raising animals right away in the city.
And I decided how to procure humans.
A method that doesn't feel like a big rejection to my human-era consciousness and that the state doesn't really care much about.
"Amber. Where are you going in such a hurry? Without even accepting a quest?"
Mercenaries who had clearly received an assassination request came out from behind the trees one after another.
Since we were on our way to the Forbidden Forest, there was no one around except me, Amber, and the mercenaries.
Amber is already marked by a very high-ranking noble in that city.
They already hired mercenaries to kill Amber, and since Amber hadn't been seen for 5 days, they must have thought they succeeded.
But today, countless Adventurers and guild staff saw her walk into the city, and even the Adventurer Guild, perfectly fine.
If so, I expected that news of Amber would have reached that noble, and naturally, they would have hired other mercenaries.
Because someone who has already instigated a murder wouldn't not do it again.
Those mercenaries seemed to have waited for us to reach a place where people's eyes couldn't reach, but unfortunately, we waited too.
To a place where there are no people's eyes.
The number of mercenaries was 15 in total, unlike the 5 from last time.
Perhaps they failed when they sent the 5 last time, so they gathered much more personnel this time to kill Amber for sure.
'Looks delicious.'
I thought this after seeing one man among the mercenaries.
I just knew it intuitively. That that man is delicious.
He was wrapped in a robe from head to toe and holding a staff in one hand.
He was a Mage by anyone's look, and I thought the reason I felt he was delicious might be because that human possessed Mana.
Although I filled my physical hunger in the city earlier, I haven't been able to satisfy my psychological hunger even once since I opened my eyes as the Queen.
Just once?
No.
[ Maru. ]
I named the Creature that carried me during my first outing Maru.
When Maru was called by me, Maru, who had come to meet me, revealed its appearance.
Maru, which has a shape that is a mix of a dog and a wolf to some extent.
The name Maru is a name I gave it because it was cute how it acted so affectionately towards me.
"W, what!?"
"Fe, Fenrir!?"
"You idiot! Fenrir doesn't have black fur like that!"
"Then what is it!!!"
The mercenaries who confirmed Maru started to get scared.
Seeing them trying to sneak away from Maru, I gave an order to Maru.
[ Kill them all, without leaving a single one. ]
I closed my eyes.
It's better not to watch.
Every time I see it, the urge to eat keeps rising.
The smell of human blood and flesh enters through my nose.
The ecstasy of every cell in my body waking up is really hard to endure.
Just smelling it makes me feel this good, so how much dopamine would burst if I ate a human?
But I will endure it.
Because that is the proof that I was human.
Not long after, the human screams and the sounds of fighting disappeared and it became quiet.
I told Maru to load the human corpses into the carriage and clean up the surroundings.
Despite it being only the second outing, I obtained very hearty food.
Feeling that the situation was over, I opened my eyes.
I stroked the head of Maru, who perfectly carried out my command.
Now that I was about to leave for the Colony, a pipe tobacco that looked like the one the mercenaries used caught my eye.
The pipe tobacco stands out particularly well.
'Should I smoke some pipe tobacco again...'